A Change Of Seasons and Some Random Thoughts

About this time of year I start to get burned out with the whole Farmers-Market-every-weekend thing and the stamping to support it all. Don't get me wrong - I love my Saturday markets, and I LOVE stamping, but being 'on' all the time, with the desire to create something new every week just wears me out after six months. So every year I look forward to the end of the Market season, and start to plan for the few Holiday shows I'll do. This year I'm only doing two, one in November and one in December, so my 'season' ends the first weekend of December. Then all I have planned is a workshop weekend once a month, and I'll have two-day weekends until April, when I start all over again. But by then I'll be well-rested! :-)

And then there's all that other stuff I plan to do every Winter. Like organize The Other Room; and paint the Kitchen; and hang up the stuff in my bedroom that I took down when I swapped bedrooms; and work on book 2 of 3 of my Road Trip scrapbook; you know - things.

Oh, I left out one thing: Holiday cards. Yeah, even though I do not celebrate Christmas, and Chanukkah is "significant" due only to its proximity to Christmas (it is a minor holiday, in case you were wondering), this is the only time of year I stay in touch with people, so I kinda need to have cards. Last year I made my cards on December 24th (I had the day off, okay?) and mailed a few before the end of the year, but I still have a box of them left. What? Did I hear someone suggest I just send them this year and call it done? Oh, nononono. If I do not make new cards, how else can I use up some of this stuff I have?

So last December/January, I saw this really cute stamp with peas on it and the sentiment was "Peas on Earth". How cute is that?!?! I asked Angela to get it for me, and then it was mine! So tonight, since my Figgy Pudding papers were still out, I decided to get out my new (from 10 months ago) stamp and play. It is still October! I know! Crazy, I say, crazy! There MUST be something else I should be doing instead ... oh, well; I'll remember later. But in the meantime, here is what I made:

I took 4 pages of my 6x6 Figgy Pudding paper and cut them to 4 x 5 1/4, then cut those on the diagonal and paired them up with other pieces. I love how this paper goes with SU's Always Artichoke, so I cut some to 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 and stuck the Figgy Pudding pieces to it. The ribbon is SU Artichoke. I wrapped that round, then stuck the layer to a white base. The sentiment is stamped on white and colored with Copics. I used a rectangle Nestie to cut them out, and layered it on an Artichoke layer cut with a rectangle scallop Nestie. Did you notice I am actually using my Nestabilities? The guilt is thick in this house over the Nestabilities.

Here are the four cards I made in about 10 minutes. Okay, maybe 20 - it took a while with that whole Nestie thing with the Cuttlebug.

These were so quick to make, they are definitely in the running for my Seasons Greetings card for this year. OR, I could box them and sell them! Yeah, but I almost never sell my boxes of Christmas cards. People come into my booth at craft shows, heavily laden with holiday decorations and wearing sweaters with snowmen on them, and they look around then ask, "Oh, do you have any Birthday cards?" I kid you not! So maybe I'll sell them online. Maybe. Let's see if I ever make any more of them.

Okay, enough about stamping. Let's move on to some random thoughts. This first one qualifies as an "I need to get out more" item. On my way home from work, I stopped to get my hair cut. Well, I actually got all of them cut. While attempting to enter the parking lot, I could not for the life of me figure out what all the traffic was! Then I saw the mob. Then I noticed it was an endless line of people outside the Chipotle which is two doors down from my stylist. And they were all sporting aluminum foil. I asked my stylist what was going on, and she said that Chipotle does this every year on Halloween. If you come in wearing aluminum foil, you get a free burrito. WHO KNEW?!?!?!? She said this particular Chipotle (and maybe it is only this Chipotle that does the give-away...) has stopped doing it at lunch time and does not start until 6:00 pm now. She said they'd been lining up for hours, and when I left after 7:00 pm, the line was still there. Amazing. Note to self: avoid Chipotle's on Halloween. Have I told you how much I detest crowds?

Moving on ... Didja notice that I had 9 votes in my "Do you love to read" poll? Nine!!!!! That is more readers than I thought I had. Well, I still think I have three (maybe four) readers, and some people who love to vote in polls just dropped by to vote. Yeah, that's it! ;-) Hey, I heart each and every one of youse guys!

So all nine of the respondents LOVE to read! Not like, but love. I am so excited with this new discovery! So what do you think is the reason we stampers love to read? Maybe an escape from reality? Personally, I have always loved reading, but now I only read at night, in bed, and I use it to help me escape into a story that helps take my mind off everything else that might keep me from falling asleep.

Speaking of which, time to hit the hay. The cat has mosied into the Kitchen and is patiently waiting for her bed-time treats. Thanks for stopping by!